Beautiful Black Rose
by smile1
Summary: R/J!!! *DONE!* Dark lit. Jess gets a late night visit from Rory. She's freaked about her violent boyfriend. Can Jess keep her safe or will Bryan make her worst nightmare come true ?! Angsty at first, but ends really sweet. PLZ REVIEW! ENJOY! :-)
1. Bruises

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I won is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey!!! I havent'updated in a while and I'm sorry. I really am, but with school and all I haven't had the time. I'll update Around as soon as I can. Anyway I woke up one night, grabbed a pen and wrote this down. I hope everyone likes it. Please review and tell me what you think. I'll update this after I'm done with Around and Wanna bet ?, promise. And as you guys have noticed I'm going through some kind of fase where I like to write angst. I'll go back to writing fluff after this. Review, thanks.  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
Jess Mariano was lying on his bed, reading a book when suddenly there was a knock on the door. He sighed and got up. It was probably one of his friends. They were always trying to get him to go to a party with them, but he never did. He's rather stay home and read. Why didn't they just get that ? He threw his book on his bed and went to open the door. When he saw who was standing there, he couldn't believe his eyes.  
  
J: ''Rory ?''  
  
The last time he spoke to her was back in Stars Hollow. He had heard from Luke that she had moved to New York. He had even given Jess Rory's address, but he never visited her though. Jess figured that since she didn't tell him about her moving to NYC that she didn't want anything to do with him. And he had accepted that. They did have their own lives after all. His life didn't revolve around her, but he had never forgotten about her though. She was always there in the back of his mind and every now an then he would close his eyes and think about her and the time that they had spend together in Stars Hollow. Just thinking about it, made him wanna smile. He would remember every word that she had said to him and every kiss that they had shared. And for a moment everything would be perfect. But then reality would hit him and he was forced to open his eyes again and stop dreaming. Reality was that they had broken up when he had decided to go back to New York, without her. And reality was that he knew that he had hurt her by not letting her go with him. That memory was always around to haunt him. And he thought that she would never wanna speak to him again and yet here she was. Standing right in front of him.  
  
R: ''Hi, Jess.''  
  
Finally Jess looked at her. He shifted his eyes to her feet and slowly brought his eyes up until he reached her face. He could only see half of her face, the other half was hidden by her hair. He tried to meet her eyes, but she avoided them.  
  
R: ''Can I come in, please ?''  
  
Jess looked at her again and took a step back. He couldn't say no to her and besides she still meant something to him. She would always mean something to him.  
  
J: ''Of course.''  
  
After he let Rory into his apartment, he closed the door and turned around.  
  
J: ''So, what are you doing here ?''  
  
R: ''I.......I don't know.''  
  
Rory quickly glanced up at Jess. When she saw the weird look that he was giving her, she lowered her eyes again. She couldn't blame him for giving her a weird look, but she wasn't sure what she was doing here. A moment ago she was ready to tell him everything, but now that she was in his apartment, standing only a few feet away from him, she wasn't so sure anymore. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea as she thought that it was. He would find her anyway, he always did. And when he did, things would only get worse........much worse. If she went back now he would never know that she had left in the first place. Yeah, she should go back, she had to go back.  
  
R: ''I'm sorry, I should go.''  
  
She started to head for the door.  
  
J: ''Rory.......''  
  
R: ''I'm sorry for bothering you.''  
  
Rory opened the door and wanted to leave, bust Jess placed his hand on the door and closed it. Rory took a step back and looked at the door. She didn't wanna turn around, she was too afraid to.  
  
J: ''Rory.......''  
  
Rory didn't answer. All she could think about was Bryan and what he would do to her once he found out that she was gone. Suddenly Jess grabbed Rory's arm and forced her to turn around. Rory immediately pulled her arm free and backed up against the door. Jess was a little taken back by her reaction.  
  
J: ''Rory, what's wrong ?''  
  
Rory didn't answer.  
  
J: ''Rory.''  
  
He took a step towards her and reached for her face.  
  
R: ''Don't.''  
  
Jess stopped and took a closer look at Rory. Something was different about her.  
  
J: ''Rory, look at me.''  
  
Rory bit her bottom lip and looked up at him. She slowly wiped her hair away from her face and met his eyes. As soon as he saw her black eye he reached out his hand again to touch her face and to take a closer look at her eye.  
  
J: ''What happened ?''  
  
R: ''Nothing. It was an accident.''  
  
Jess knew that she was lying. He had seen this before, but he never thought that it would happen to Rory. Suddenly he unzipped her cardigan. Rory tried to stop him.  
  
R: ''What are you doing ?!''  
  
J: ''Take it off.''  
  
His voice was barely above a whisper.  
  
R: ''What ?''  
  
J: ''Take off your cardigan.''  
  
R: ''No.''  
  
J: ''That black eye wasn't an accident, was it ?''  
  
Rory shook her head and started to take off her cardigan. When she removed her cardigan, it revealed her bare arms. There were bruises all over them. Jess slowly ran his fingers over one of her arms. She cringed and bit her lip from screaming. It just hurt so much. Jess removed his hand from her arm and looked up at her.  
  
J: ''Is there more ?''  
  
Rory nodded and grabbed the bottom of her top. She slowly started to lift it up until the bare skin of her stomach was showing. There were bruises on it too. Jess reached for her stomach, but Rory let go of her top so that the bruises were covered again.  
  
R: ''I have them on my back too..........I even have them on my legs.''  
  
J: ''Who did this to you ?''  
  
Rory didn't answer and turned her eyes away from Jess' worried gaze.  
  
J: ''Rory, tell me.''  
  
R: ''I can't. He'll find me.''  
  
J: ''Who will find you ?''  
  
Rory still didn't say a thing.  
  
J: ''Rory, please. He doesn't have the right to do this to you. It's wrong.''  
  
Rory locked eyes with Jess.  
  
R: ''Don't you think I know ?''  
  
J: ''Who did this to you ?''  
  
Rory closed her eyes and waited a while before she opened them again.  
  
R: ''Bryan, his name is Bryan Macanon.''  
  
J: ''Who is he ?''  
  
R: ''My boyfriend.''  
  
J: ''Your boyfriend ?''  
  
R: ''Yes.''  
  
J: ''How long have you been together ?''  
  
R: ''Almost a year.''  
  
J: ''When did he start hitting you ?''  
  
R: ''Two months after me first met.''  
  
J: ''And you stayed with him ? After what he did to you ?''  
  
Rory nodded.  
  
J: ''Why ? Why didn't you do something about it ? Why didn't you tell anyone ?''  
  
R: ''I just did.''  
  
J: ''Yeah, but you waited for what, almost ten months to tell someone ?''  
  
R: ''I wanted to.''  
  
J: ''Then why didn't you Rory ?!''  
  
When Jess raised his voice she got scared again. Bryan would always yell at her when she did something wrong in his eyes. But the yelling wasn't the worst part, what came after the yelling.........that scared her the most. He would grab her and hurt her. He always did. Suddenly she became mad. She started to get mad at Jess for not understanding. She finally got the courage to tell him and this was what she got ?  
  
R: ''Because I couldn't ! I wanted to, I really did, but it felt as if he was always there, watching me. And the first couple of time I did try to fight him, but he was too strong.''  
  
Tears started to form in her eyes.  
  
R: ''Do you know what it felt like when he hit me ? Do you know how much it hurt ? You don't ! So don't tell me that I would have told someone sooner. I tried, okay, I tried. But I was scared of him. Of his voice, his hands.''  
  
Then Rory broke down and started to cry. Jess moved closer to Rory and took her in his arms.  
  
J: ''I'm sorry.''  
  
R: ''Let go of me.''  
  
She tried to push Jess away, but Jess didn't let go of her. Instead he pulled her even closer.  
  
J: ''I'm so sorry, I'm sorry.''  
  
Finally Rory gave in and buried her head in Jess' chest.  
  
J: ''It's okay. You're safe here. He won't hurt you ever again.''  
  
Rory kept on crying.  
  
J: ''Promise.''  
  
He kissed her hair and held her.  
  
When Rory heard Jess' comforting words she felt safe. She could always rely on Jess to protect her. She couldn't believe that she had waited so long to tell him. Everything was going to be alright. 


	2. I need you to catch me

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey!!! As most of you know, I just finished 'Wanna bet' and that means that I'll be focusing all my creativity on another story from now on. I chose thise one, cause 1. I wanted to see what kind of reaction I would get, 2. to see what I could do with this story and 3. to see if I can write another fic that's a little darker than my usual stories. *O and if you don't like the fact that Rory has an abusive boyfriend in this story, then please don't read it!* So, please review and..........react! Thanks for your patience and thanks for all the people who reviewed the first chapter. Some questions will be answered in this chapter. (And if you haven't yet, please read and review my new story 'I guess, you say'. I'd really like your opinion. It's R/J and fluff!)  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
After what seemed like and eternity, Rory pulled away from Jess. Not because she wanted to, cause she could stay in Jess' embrace forever, but because she felt like she had to. She just barged into his carefree life and threw all her problems at him. And lucky for her, he was the kind of person who caught her problems and stopped her from falling. He had always been that kind of person, even though you couldn't tell unless you knew him. Being in Jess' arms again felt liberating and safe and his touch was as gentle as she remembered, which you wouldn't expect if you looked at him. Dark intriguing eyes, intimidating figure with muscles in the right places, a roughly shaped face with sharp and eye-catching features and dark, almost black hair that looked restless, just like the person it belonged to.  
  
The black of her eyes almost stood out horrifying against her light skin tone. Jess hid his clenched fists in the pockets of his jeans as he looked at the obvious frightened yet relieved brunette.  
  
J: ''So, are you hungry ?''  
  
A smile protruded on her beautifully colored ivory face, slowly, as if a drawer was sketching it.  
  
R: ''I'm hungry, yes.''  
  
J: ''Just hungry ?''  
  
R: ''Okay, I'm starved.''  
  
As her smile got more sure and authentic, so did Jess'. He was glad that he had been able to lighten the mood at least a little. He took a step towards her and raised his arm to reach for the phone, that was placed right behind her, to Rory's unfortunate. She immediately panicked and crashed against the dresser behind her. Jess, who was unaware of how his simple action could scare Rory, realized what he had done wrong and backed away from her. He looked at Rory, his anger for Bryan hidden by the apologetic look in his eyes.  
  
J: ''Sorry, I was just reaching for the phone.''  
  
R: ''I..........I................''  
  
Because of her lack of words, she just wrapped her arms around her and moved aside so Jess could reach the phone. She avoided his eyes as he picked up the phone.  
  
R: ''Is it okay if I wander around ?''  
  
J: ''Just don't get lost.''  
  
Rory weakly smiled and started to leave the room, leaving Jess with a small smile as he dialed a number. When he had ordered the pizza, he hung up the phone and went to look for Rory. He ended up finding her in his room, sitting cross-legged in front of one of his bookcases with a book in her lap. Jess leaned against the doorframe and watched her as she wiped her hair away from her face and flew across the pages with those aesthetic eyes of her. Finally he went back to the living room, deciding that he would leave her there until the pizza arrived. It was nice having her around again.  
  
*~*~*  
  
When the pizza arrived, Jess took it into the kitchen. He turned around to get Rory, but she was already standing behind him. He noticed that she had put on her cardigan again. It had nothing to do with him, but she was just not comfortable after everything that had happened between her and Bryan. Besides she never was the type of girl to walk around the house, wearing as less clothes as possible.  
  
R: ''I heard the doorbell.''  
  
J: ''Already figured something like that. So, shall we take this into the living room ?''  
  
Rory nodded and lifted the pizza of off the table. Rory got a couple of plates and followed him. They sat down on the couch, placing the pizza box between them. They sat in silence for a while, eating their pizza until Jess repeated the question that he had asked earlier.  
  
J: ''Rory................''  
  
He had to ask. He just couldn't believe that Rory was so weak and let this happen to her. He wanted to hear her explanation again, seeing if he had missed something in her earlier one.  
  
R: ''Yeah ?''  
  
She faced him, knowing that he probably wanted to know everything.  
  
J: ''Why didn't you tell anyone ?''  
  
R: ''It was hard to talk about it.''  
  
Jess wasn't going to drop it this easy, especially when he wasn't satisfied with her answer. It was too easy. The least Rory could do was come up with a better answer.  
  
J: ''I don't believe you.''  
  
Rory lowered her eyes.  
  
J: ''You could have told your mom, I'm sure she would have understood.''  
  
R: ''She probably would have.''  
  
J: ''Then why didn't you tell her ?''  
  
R: ''I was ashamed..........I guess.''  
  
She quickly looked up, only to find Jess' eyes looking at her, waiting for answers.  
  
R: ''You know how strong my mom is and you don't even have to know my grandma to know what a strong and dependent woman she is............ I was ashamed to tell them. I mean I let him hit me and I acted like a weak, little girl. I just never expected myself to handle the situation the way I did.''  
  
J: ''You're not weak.''  
  
R: ''Yes I am.''  
  
J: ''No you're not.''  
  
R: ''Then why didn't I stop him when he hit me ? Or why didn't I call anyone ? Why didn't I run ?''  
  
J: ''You did run. You're here now.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, but it took me too long. I could have done it much sooner. You were right.''  
  
J: ''You were scared Rory.''  
  
R: ''Helpless you mean.''  
  
Jess didn't say anything for a while. He had a feeling that he was just going to make it worse and he didn't want to have an argument with Rory about something so understandable. Something that took her a lot of courage to do, so she wasn't weak. Scared ? Yes. But weak ? No.  
  
J: ''Did.........did Bryan ever hurt you in a different way ?''  
  
His voice was just above a susurration, not wanting to suggest the obvious meaning that lay hidden in his question.  
  
Rory looked up and met his eyes, not sure what he meant.  
  
R: ''What do you mean ?''  
  
J: ''Did Bryan ever rape you ?''  
  
Rory shifted her gaze from Jess to the wall behind him. She wasn't really shocked by the question itself, but by the fact that the question was actually meant for her. She never pictured herself answering a question like that. After all, she wasn't the girl that got abused. It was just something that happened on TV, but right now the reality of the matter was so close that it almost made her scream.  
  
J: ''Rory ?''  
  
Finally she shook her head and Jess let out a relieved breath. Rory pulled her knees up to her chest and started to pull at the sleeves of her cardigan. Pulling it to see how much it would stretch, just like she was wondering how long she could stretch this silence between her and Jess. Suddenly she let go of her cardigan and wrapped her arms around her knees, breaking the silence with her shaky and unsure voice.  
  
R: ''He did try............., but every time he would, I would start to scream.''  
  
She bit her lips and looked at one of the bruises on her lower arm. Jess followed her gaze and saw how she pulled at the sleeves of her cardigan so that it would cover her entire arm.  
  
R: ''When I would scream, he would hit me. But after a while he stopped trying and he would start to come home late. He was probably with one of his other girlfriends.''  
  
Rory knew that he voice sounded bitter when she said that last sentence. It hurt that Bryan just kept her around to hurt and patronize.  
  
J: ''Why didn't you leave sooner, if he was gone at night ?''  
  
He was talking to her in a soft voice, as if he was talking to a little girl. And the funny part was that she didn't blame him. She felt like a little girl after all.  
  
R: ''He would call to check up on me and I............I............''  
  
She took a deep breath, calming her body down with the cool air.  
  
R: ''And I was afraid.''  
  
There she had admitted it. She was afraid and did what she thought was right at the moment.  
  
J: ''What made you leave tonight ?''  
  
Rory shrugged.  
  
R: ''I couldn't take it anymore.''  
  
J: ''Why me ?''  
  
Rory smiled as she wondered why he even bothered to ask her when he already knew the answer. She looked up at him and met his eyes. And for a moment she saw Jess like he was when he was 17. She remembered why she fell in love with him and wished that she could go back to that period in her life. If she would be able to do that, she would do a lot of things differently. Avoid all the fights she had with Jess over nothing for one thing. They weren't worth it. All the time they spend apart they could have been enjoying in each other's company.  
  
R: ''Cause...............I knew I could trust you.''  
  
Jess nodded, he knew that she wasn't lying to him. She did trust him. No matter what he did, she always trusted him. Even when he did something, she was always there to defend him and his actions, without asking him if it was really his fault or not. He asked her about it once.  
  
*~*~*Flashback*~*~*  
  
J: ''Why did you do that ?''  
  
R: ''Do what ?''  
  
J: ''Defend me like that, when obviously I was the one who caused it.''  
  
R: ''It doesn't matter. I'm your girlfriend and I've got your back.''  
  
*~*~*End of Flashback*~*~*  
  
Jess smiled at the memory. After that they had kissed and laughed about the way Rory said, I've got your back.''  
  
J: ''Did you tell anyone else ?''  
  
Rory immediately dropped her gaze from Jess to her hands and started to trace little circles on her knee. She nodded.  
  
R: ''Dean.''  
  
For some reason Jess still had the urge to slam his fist into something every time he heard Dean's name. He never got along with the tall and possessive guy. But putting his feelings aside, he kept listening to the small and fragile girl that was sitting across from him. He had found that it took a lot to break her and he hated Bryan for having done just that.  
  
R: ''I called Dean and told him about Bryan and......you know. Dean, of course, got mad and wanted to beat Bryan up, but I wouldn't let him, cause I knew that he would end up getting hurt..........as well as I would. I haven't talked to Dean since then.''  
  
J: ''You know, for once I agree with bag boy. Hell, I would even team up with him to beat the crap out of Bryan.''  
  
That comment made Rory smile. Jess cracked a smile himself when he saw the cute smile that could make you do anything if she did it at the right moment. Rory yawned and that was when Jess noticed how tired she looked.  
  
R: ''I haven't been sleeping well.''  
  
Jess nodded and got up from the couch.  
  
J: ''I'll get you something to sleep in.''  
  
He turned around and wanted to head for his bedroom, but Rory's voice stopped him dead in his tracks.  
  
R: ''Jess, I know this is going to sound weird, but do you have something with long sleeves ?''  
  
Jess nodded and went to his bedroom. Minutes later he came back and handed her one of his oversized sweat pants and an old long sleeved shirt. He showed her where the bathroom was and with a kind smile she disappeared into it.  
  
Once she was in the bathroom, she started to take off her clothes. Slowly, so that the fabric of the clothes wouldn't brush against her skin too much. Soon she found herself staring at herself in her mirror. Because she was naked, she could see the damage that Bryan had done to her body. She knew that she had bruises all over her body, but seeing them like this made her feel horrible. She hated the way she looked. Tears started to from in her eyes, blurring her vision of herself in the mirror. Before she could break down entirely, she managed to put on the clothes that Jess had given her. After that she leaned against the wall that was the farthest away from the mirror and slid down on the floor. Her body started to shake as tears started to run down her cheeks even faster. Why did she let Bryan hit her ? Why didn't she stop him ? Her cries must have gotten louder, cause Jess knocked on the door.  
  
J: ''Rory ? Rory, are you okay ?''  
  
His voice sounded worried and Rory felt guilty. She brought Jess into this mess and made him worry about her when he shouldn't be.  
  
R: ''I'm fine.''  
  
She didn't really know how she managed to actually get the words out of her mouth, but it didn't matter. Jess came in anyway.  
  
Jess found Rory, sitting on the floor of the bathroom, crying. Something inside him broke and he started to walk over to her.  
  
R: ''Don't come near me...............please.''  
  
Jess stopped and sat down on the other end of the bathroom so he could watch her. Every time he saw her body shake or he saw a tear slide down her cheek, his urge to beat something up become worse. But he remained calm, waiting patiently until she cried herself to sleep. When she did, he carefully lifted her from the ground and carried her to his room. He lay her down on his bed, careful not to wake her up. But when he let go of her, her eyelashes fluttered and slowly her eyes opened.  
  
R: ''Jess............?''  
  
J: ''Yes ?''  
  
R: ''Thank you.''  
  
Jess smiled as he tucked her in, knowing that she had already went back to sleep. He wiped her hair away from her forehead and placed a soft kiss on it, promising that things would get better. 


	3. Frozen Fright

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. Except for Bryan. (I'm not sure if I wanna own him though) All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey!!! I was fixing some of my stories, so that's why I'm updating now instead of yesterday. Makes no sense huh ? Already figured something like that. Anyway I would really, really like your opinion on Bryan. Is he coming over as twisted and harsh as I want him to ? Please hit the Review button and tell me. (Unless you can magically tap into my brain and tell me what you think about it) That reminds me, thanks to everyone who reviewed. You guys deserve like a zillion of them. I genuinely appreciate every single one of them.  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
When Rory opened her eyes next morning, she was greeted by a couple rays of sun that found their way into the room. She could feel the warmth of them on her face and smiled. It always gave her a sheltered feeling. Ever since she was little, she saw the sun at this never ending light that was always there to get you through the dark times. Even when it rained, the sun was there, hiding behind the clouds. And when the night cast it's shadow over the sky, the stars would appear. Rory used to make up this little story in her head that the stars were really little chunks of the sun, that stayed around to light up the night. Now it just sounded ridiculous, but back then it seemed pretty logical for a 6-year-old. Maybe she should call Jess her shining star from now on, since he had been her rainbow after the rain last night. Rory laughed softly. Yeah, he would like that. She sat up straight and started to rub her eyes, to get rid of the last sleeping sand that was hiding in the corners of her eyes. After that she yawned and wanted to get out of bed, but froze when she looked into a pair of gray eyes that made her wanna run and hide someplace where he wouldn't think of looking. Rory had the urge to go back under the covers and close her eyes, hoping that this was just a part of her dream that hadn't faded yet.  
  
B: ''Rise and shine sunshine.''  
  
He said it with a smile on his face, but his gaze remained as cold as ever, sending freezing shivers down her spine that kept her from moving.  
  
R: ''Bryan.''  
  
Just saying his name while he was watching her was a hard task for her. Showing no fear on the outside was even more of a task for her, since fear was the thing that made her heart beat faster with every breath she took.  
  
B: ''Did you really think that you could get away from me ?''  
  
Rory didn't say a word and just waited for him to yell or even worse hit her. She was used of him reacting with his hands, but what he was doing now scared her even more. He just sat there, looking at her, as if he was waiting for the right moment to hurt her.  
  
B: ''Did you really think that I would let you get away from me ?''  
  
Rory lowered her eyes and thought about his question for a while. Did she really think that she could get away from him ? Last night, with the dark night to hide her, she did think that she would get away from him. And when she had been in Jess' presence that insecure thought had turned into a sure and steady one. Suddenly she stopped the stream of thoughts that were going through her mind. Jess............... She looked up and met Bryan's eyes, praying that he didn't have the ability to read her like an open book, from cover to cover, like Jess could.  
  
R: ''Where's Jess ?''  
  
Bryan sighed and got a small piece of paper out of his pocket. He unfolded it and started to read.  
  
B: ''I'm at work. I'll try to be back as soon as I can. In the meanwhile, I've got a collection of books that is awaiting your arrival. Don't worry, everything will be alright. I'll bring home some takeout and coffee. Jess.''  
  
Bryan looked at the note and shook his head. He crumpled up the note in his fist and threw it on the floor, with a neutral expression on his face.  
  
B: ''I hope he's hungry, cause I know he's expecting you to stay for dinner and all, but I don't think that works for me.''  
  
His expression stayed neutral, but Rory knew that he was angry, even though he was hiding it pretty well. She could see how tense he was and how he kept clenching his fists over and over. Rory's gaze fell on his hands. They were shaped roughly and he had long fingers that could always hold a firm grip on her if he wanted to. Rory shifted her gaze from his hands up to his clean-cut face. His eyes gave away that he was anything but clean-cut. Underneath his humble and trustworthy looks hid a heartless monster who took exhilaration in making her feel small and terrified. He winked at her and Rory could feel herself filling up with the hatred that she felt towards him. She grabbed a hold of her blanket and pretended that she was digging her nails into his skin, hurting him like he had hurt her.  
  
B: ''Rory, Rory, what am I going to do with you ?"  
  
Rory came up with a couple of things that he could do to her and cringed.  
  
B: "You know, if you weren't so reckless and hadn't left this lying around..........."  
  
Bryan retrieved a small, dark-blue address book out of his pocket and held it up so Rory could see.  
  
B: ''.......you probably would've gotten away with it."  
  
Rory gasped when she saw her address book. How could she have left that lying around the house ? That was just invitation for him to follow her and find her, hiding away in her sanctuary.  
  
B: ''There were only two addresses in it.''  
  
R: ''Dean and Jess'.''  
  
B: ''Bingo. You made it too easy for me. When you weren't at Dean's I figured that you had to be here. Lucky me.''  
  
R: ''You went to Dean's ?''  
  
B: ''Yeah."  
  
R: ''Wha.......what did you do to him ?''  
  
B: ''Why do you assume I did anything to him ? Maybe we just had a nice, friendly conversation.''  
  
Bryan had a smirk on his face as he said this, so Rory could tell that he was lying.  
  
B: ''Let's just say that I convinced him not to call the cops.''  
  
Rory started to feel sick to her stomach when he said that. It wasn't enough to hurt her, but he had to hurt the ones she loved too. One part of her felt scared and the other part was filled with hatred and disgust for Bryan. And together it made a combination, almost impossible to deal with. She was really close to giving up right now.  
  
B: ''Get up.''  
  
Without thinking twice, Rory did as he told her. She was so used to hear his voice tell her what to do that she didn't even fight him. Not that she could. He was much stronger than her. And even if she would fight him, she would end up at the bottom of the ravine or lost in the woods with no one to help her.  
  
B: ''So, you sleep with him, but you won't sleep with me ?''  
  
At first Rory didn't understand what he was talking about, but when she saw him looking at her, she realized what he meant. She was wearing Jess' clothes and Bryan immediately assumed that she and Jess............ That thought hadn't even crossed her mind last night, not once!  
  
R: ''I didn't..............sleep with him.''  
  
B: ''Then how do you explain his clothes ?''  
  
He got out off the chair and took a step towards her, intimidating her with his length and impatient expression.  
  
R: ''I needed something to sleep in last night.''  
  
B: ''I'm sure he was more than happy to help you change in to them.''  
  
R: ''Believe whatever you want.''  
  
Bryan's impatient expression changed into an angry scowl. Within a couple of seconds he was standing right in front of Rory. He roughly grabbed her by the arm and started to pull her out of the bedroom. Rory wanted to tell him that he was holding her too tight and that he was going to leave another bruise if he kept holding her like that, but then she realized that he didn't care. He didn't care if she would end up having another bruise on her arm. He didn't care when he caused the other ones. And he didn't care like it felt as if someone had tied a rope around her arm and was pulling it too tight, waiting for the blood to appear. The only one that cared was her. Suddenly he stopped and heartlessly threw her on the couch.  
  
B: ''Put your shoes on.''  
  
Rory obeyed him and started to put her shoes on, knowing that he was watching her every move. She was busy lacing her shoes when the phone rang. Her head shot up and she looked from Bryan to the phone and back again, not knowing what she was supposed to do now.  
  
B: ''Answer it.''  
  
Rory walked over to the dresser and picked up the phone.  
  
R: ''Hello ?''  
  
J: ''Hey, it's me.''  
  
R: ''Jess.''  
  
Bryan casually leaned against the wall across from Rory and mouthed for her not to tell him anything.  
  
J: ''How are you doing ?''  
  
R: ''I.....I'm doing fine.''  
  
J: ''Are you sure ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, why ?''  
  
J: ''Don't know, forget it. Listen, I was thinking off Chinese for dinner. What do you think ?''  
  
R: ''Sounds great, but don't get too much though.''  
  
J: ''Why ? Don't tell me you're not hungry ?''  
  
R: ''I am, it's just..............''  
  
She looked at Bryan, who shot her a warning look and gripped the phone tighter as if she was trying to hold on to Jess' voice.  
  
J: ''What is it ?''  
  
R: ''Nothing, forget it. Chinese sounds good.''  
  
J: ''Good.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, good.''  
  
J: ''So, I'll see you in a couple of hours then.''  
  
R: ''Guess so.''  
  
J: ''Okay, see you later then.''  
  
R: ''Goodbye Jess.''  
  
Before Jess could say anything else, she hung up. Bryan, who seemed amused by Rory's misery, slightly smiled and grabbed a hold of Rory's hand.  
  
B: ''Let's go.''  
  
R: ''No.''  
  
B: ''What ?''  
  
R: ''No, I'm not going with you.''  
  
She pulled her hand free and took a step back. Jess was expecting her to be here when he got home from work and she was. She was going to be here. And they were going to have Chinese for dinner.  
  
B: ''Fine.......... I'll have to go to Dean's house and finish the job though, but if he's worth spending more time with Jess.........''  
  
Suddenly Bryan took a step towards her and Rory found herself trapped between Bryan and the dresser.  
  
B: ''Besides, Jess can't be with you 24/7.''  
  
And with those couple of words, he shattered Rory's last hopes. Tears were starting to form in her eyes, threatening to fall and she gave in. If she didn't, Dean would get hurt and probably Jess too. It wasn't worth it.  
  
B: ''I knew you were smart, I mean you graduated from Yale and all.''  
  
Bryan slipped one of his arms around her waist and pulled her against him. Rory threw one more glance at Jess' apartment, before Bryan closed the door behind them, leaving Rory's last hope behind her. 


	4. Screaming craziness

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. Except for Bryan. (unfortunately) All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey all you wonderful people! Wondering why you're so wonderful ? Well, because of the reviews you left me. I feel like dedicating something to you guys.....hmm what can I dedicate ? I'll dedicate my first book to you. (like that's ever going to happen) I've got it! I'll dedicate this chapter and all the other chapters to you! I'll even share Bryan with you, but I have this feeling that you're going to say that I can keep him. Anyway, please leave another one of your remarkable reviews and maybe I'll get rid of Bryan. ;-) Thanks!  
  
*THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO ALL MY REVIEWERS!* (read one of their stories when you get the chance and tell them how tremendous their stories are)  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
As soon as they reached Bryan's apartment, he forcefully pushed her into the apartment and closed the door behind him. Rory could barely keep her balance and when there wasn't anything to grab a hold off, she crashed to the floor. Luckily for her, she could catch herself with her hands, so she could at least decrease the pain a little when her body hit the floor. Rory bit her lip to keep herself from screaming as she got up from the ground, suddenly fully aware of her bruises. She slowly turned around to face Bryan, thinking that she was prepared for any expression that would be seen on his face. But she wasn't, but then again she never was. It still amazed her of how much pleasure he got from degrading her just to remind her that he had all the power and that he was the one who was wearing the crown. She looked at the sadistic grin that was plastered on his face. He would probably like her to bow now. Rory clenched her teeth, not realizing that she was digging her nails into the side of her leg until she felt a sharp pain go through her leg. She removed her arm from her leg, not really sure what to do with it. She thought about crossing her arms, but that would probably look too defensive to Bryan, so she settled for clasping her hands together in front of her body. If she had been strong enough, she would have used her hands to wipe that grin off of his face, making sure he would never grin or speak again. Normally she wasn't this violent towards people, but Bryan was an exception. Maybe she could get a knife while he was sleeping and cut his tongue out ? What was she thinking ? She didn't wanna hurt him, right ? Of course she did. He deserved it ! She forced herself not to think about anything and looked at Bryan, waiting................  
  
B: ''I have to get ready for work.''  
  
He shot her another one of his sickening smiles and went into their bedroom, to change probably. Rory let out a breath of relief and sat down on the couch. She leaned back against the couch, trying to ignore her back that was hurting because of the pressure the couch was applying to her back. She had finally gotten the courage to leave and tell someone about what had been happening to her for the past year and just like that she was right back in the place that she hated with the person she feared and hated the most. Maybe she deserved this ? But she already knew that she didn't, no one deserved this. She was nice to everyone, helped out whenever needed and never put someone down. Now she was sure that she didn't deserve this, but if you hated the person so much that you would imagine killing him in his sleep or feared him so much that it froze you to the spot whenever you saw him.............you were going to think that it was your fault. That you brought this upon yourself, when that wasn't the case. Rory closed her eyes. Sometimes she would even lose the capability to speak when he stepped into the room. She wondered if she was slowly going insane and if her hatred and fear for Bryan was slowly eating her up from the inside ? It didn't matter, nothing mattered anymore. She was here and there was no way that she would ever get out of here again. Suddenly she heard footsteps and even though you could barely hear them, to her it was as if a lightning bolt hit the ground whenever he put his foot down.  
  
B: ''Why so sad princess ?''  
  
Rory cringed again. But this time it wasn't the bruises, it was the way he called her princess. Something about the tone in his voice made her wanna throw up until she couldn't anymore. She watched him as he walked over to her.  
  
B: ''Ah, did you have a little crush on Jess ?''  
  
Rory bit her lip until she could taste blood. He was trying to make her crazy, but she wouldn't let him. She could outdo him verbally any day and she was stronger than this.  
  
He kneeled down in front of her and put his hand on her knee, slowly making his way up to her thigh.  
  
B: ''I did it for your own good you know ? He would have probably threw you out once he got sick of you, now I would never do something like that.''  
  
He brought his head closer to hers as he started to rub the inside of her thigh, making Rory feel anything but loved. She would rather be thrown out by Jess than stay here with him.  
  
B: ''Besides your mine.''  
  
He brought his lips towards hers and gently grazed them before crushing his lips against hers. Rory wanted to stop him, but he had pinned her arms to the couch, making her helpless. As soon as she felt his tongue in her mouth, she got a bitter taste in her mouth. Finally he stopped and stood up, letting go of her arms.  
  
B: ''Don't wait up for me.''  
  
He winked at her and left the apartment, making Rory suddenly feel much safer. She tried to pull the remaining pieces of her together and went to the kitchen to make herself a cup of coffee. After that she sat back down on the couch, drinking her coffee as if she hadn't tasted caffeine for a while, trying to get the horrible and bitter taste out of her mouth. When she finished her coffee, she placed the cup on the small table in front of the couch and made herself as small as possible. She looked at the phone, knowing that it wouldn't be long until he would call to check up on her. He always did.  
  
*~*~*  
  
That night, Rory's eyelashes fluttered and moments later she opened her eyes, the darkness crashing down on her. After her eyes got adjusted to the darkness, she noticed Bryan lying next to her. She checked her watch. 2 o'clock. He must have come home late.........again. Rory sighed as she looked at him. When he was sleeping he looked like the sweetest and nicest person she had ever seen. With his chestnut colored hair and the dark lashes that covered his eyes like a blanket, he looked so normal. Like the perfect boyfriend. The good boyfriend who never cheated, raised his voice...........And for the first two months he had been just that. He had been so sweet and caring, their kisses were slow and filled with the love and passion that she missed. The passion was still there, but it was more the kind of passion that immediately burned you when you got too close instead of the slow and sensual passion that slowly spread it's heat throughout your body. Rory shivered and wondered if he treated other girls the same way ? Suddenly Rory got up and quietly left the room. She grabbed the phone and locked herself in the bathroom. She turned on the faucet, just in case Bryan would wake up and sat down on the edge of the bathtub while she dialed a number that reminded her so much of her childhood.  
  
Luke: ''Hello ?''  
  
Rory opened her mouth, but nothing came out. How could she ask Luke for Jess' number when she hadn't spoken to him or her mom for at least 8 months ?  
  
Luke: ''Lorelai if that's you I swear I'll............''  
  
R: ''Luke.''  
  
Luke: ''Rory ? Is that you ?''  
  
R: ''Yea.....yes.''  
  
Luke: ''Are you alright ? Your mom's worried about you. You haven't called in a while, you haven't visited and.........''  
  
R: ''I know and I'm really sorry.''  
  
Luke: ''So, is there any particular reason why you're calling me at............2:07 in the morning ? Are you in trouble ?''  
  
R: ''Sort of.''  
  
Luke: ''What kind of trouble ?''  
  
R: ''I........I can't tell you.''  
  
Luke: ''Is it serious ?''  
  
R: ''Listen, Luke I don't have a lot of time, so..........''  
  
Luke: ''Not a lot of time ? Where are you ?''  
  
R: ''Luke.............I need Jess' number.''  
  
Luke: ''His number ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, you do have it, right ?''  
  
Luke: ''Yeah, but...........''  
  
R: ''Just give me the number, please ?''  
  
Luke: ''But..........''  
  
R: ''No questions asked.''  
  
Luke: ''Okay, hold up, I'll get his number for you.''  
  
Moments later Luke gave her Jess' phone number. Rory quickly wrote it down on her hand, memorizing it at the same time.  
  
Luke: ''Rory, is everything okay ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
A silence fell between them for a couple of seconds and Rory realized that she missed talking to Luke. But most of all she missed her mom.  
  
R: ''Luke.......tell my mom that I'm doing fine, okay ?''  
  
Luke: ''Will I be lying to her if I do ?''  
  
R: ''Yes.''  
  
After that Rory hung up on Luke. She hated lying to people. She realized that her mom couldn't even reach her if she wanted to, cause when she moved in with Bryan she didn't get the chance to give anyone his number. Rory grabbed the phone again and dialed the number that Luke had just given her.  
  
J: ''Hello ?''  
  
Rory took a deep breath before she answered.  
  
R: ''Jess........''  
  
J: ''Rory, where are you ? I thought we were having dinner ?''  
  
Rory smiled at his last comment and wished that she could have had dinner with him.  
  
R: ''Told you that you shouldn't bring too much.''  
  
She could almost see Jess smirk and wished that she could be there, so she could see the playful smirk playing across his lips.  
  
J: ''Next time I'll listen. Seriously though, where are you ? Stars Hollow ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah.......right.''  
  
J: ''Rory.......where are you ?''  
  
His voice sounded serious now and Rory was glad that he still cared about her.  
  
R: ''I'm at Bryan's.''  
  
J: ''What ?''  
  
R: ''This morning, when I woke up he was there, looking at me.''  
  
J: ''How ?''  
  
R: ''My address book..........consists only of two addresses, yours and Dean's. He told me he went to Dean first and when I wasn't there..........''  
  
J: ''Why ?''  
  
R: ''Cause he said that he would hurt Dean.........and you if I didn't go with him.''  
  
J: ''Rory...........''  
  
R: ''Are you mad ?''  
  
She could hear Jess sigh.  
  
J: ''No. Just give me the address and I'll come and get you.''  
  
R: ''No.''  
  
J: ''Rory.''  
  
R: ''No, he'll hurt you.''  
  
J: ''Rory, don't be stubborn. Just let me come and get you.''  
  
R: ''No.''  
  
Jess didn't say anything.  
  
R: ''You're mad, aren't you ?''  
  
J: ''I'm frustrated.''  
  
R: ''But you sound mad.''  
  
J: ''We're not doing this.''  
  
R: ''Doing what ?''  
  
J: ''Arguing while you're in danger. If you don't want me to come and get you, then just meet me somewhere.''  
  
R: ''No, he would hear me and if he finds out he'll.........''  
  
J: ''He won't.''  
  
R: ''You don't know him.''  
  
J: ''If I come over there I could meet him and give him a punch hello.''  
  
R: ''This isn't funny Jess.''  
  
J: ''I know. I just wanna help you.''  
  
R: ''You already did and I wanted to thank you for doing that. I have to go now.''  
  
J: ''Rory, don't you dare hang up on me.''  
  
R: ''Bye Jess.''  
  
And with that their conversation ended. Rory hung up on Jess and just sat in the bathroom for a while, looking at the phone. After a while she got up and washed Jess' number off of her hands. That way there wouldn't be any evidence for Bryan to find. Besides she memorized the number, just in case she needed Jess in the future. If she had one that was. Rory turned the faucet off, put the phone back where she had found it and quietly returned to bed. As soon as she lay down, Bryan wrapped one of his arms around her. It would have been a really sweet gesture if you didn't know him, but because she did know him and knew what kind of person he really was, she felt as if she was in a strait jacket and all his gesture did was remind her of how he was slowly driving her out of her mind. Which was ironic since she felt as if she was in a strait jacket. 


	5. Tough girl

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. Except for Bryan. (who's getting what he deserves!) ;-) All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey!!! I'm getting really good at this daily-updating-thing, don't you think ? O just to let you know, each one of you who reviewed can be expecting a gigantic cake to be delivered to their door very soon........ What I'm trying to say is THANKS! (the cake is also to celebrate Bryan's downfall) ;-) I would really appreciate it, if you guys would review this chapter and tell me if Bryan got what he deserved. (and if the cake is as good as I imagined in my head) Enjoy! (and forgive me for the big paragraphs)  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
The next day, after Bryan had left for work, Rory found herself sitting on her bed with a book. These days reading was the only thing that made her forget about Bryan's stinging comments, even though she would always pretend that they didn't hurt her and his violent behavior. She was getting lost in a colorful world filled with characters that were vividly written. So vividly that she could picture their world in front of her eyes, like you would watch a television screen and sometimes she would get so caught up in the book that she even felt what the characters were feeling. She could feel their heart beat when they were in love, feel the anger that build up inside them when they were angry at each other and she could feel their pain whenever their heart would be broken. But for some reason their pain didn't even come close to hers. The writer never seemed to use the right words to express their pain or anger for that matter. Rory sighed as she realized that reading wasn't going to help her forget today. Finally she put the book down beside her and looked around the room. Almost immediately her gaze fell on Bryan's dresser. Ever since she met him he had been extremely secretive about it. For some reason she was never allowed to go near it. He even put away his own clothes. Rory had thought about just walking over to the dresser and opening one of it's drawers, but she never went through with it, because she was almost certain that Bryan would notice. He would probably notice the one wrinkle in his favorite shirt that hadn't been there before or some other small detail that normally the eyes would miss.  
  
Finally she couldn't fight her curiosity anymore and got off the bed. She walked over to his dresser and just stood in front of it for a while, looking at it. So far there was nothing out of the ordinary to see. She slowly reached out her hand and carefully opened one of the drawers. When she did, she took a look inside. Immediately she let go of the drawer and pressed her hand against her mouth to keep from shrieking. After her heartbeat slowed down a little, she removed her hand from her mouth and decided to take another look in the drawer, just to make sure that her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. She took another step towards the dresser and rested her gaze on the object that had scared her so much. It was a gun.......... He had a gun. Why ? Why did he need a gun ? Was he that violent ? Scenarios started to play in her head of old Maffia movies where the Maffia would just shoot anyone who got in their way or didn't do as they had said. Was Bryan going to do that to her ? If he got sick of her at one point, was he going to............kill her ? Suddenly she heard the front door open and moments later footsteps were coming her way. He was home.......... She quickly closed the drawer and hurried back to the bed.  
  
When he came into the room, he found Rory sitting on the bed, reading. Like nothing ever happened. When really she was gripping the book so tight to keep from shaking that here knuckles were starting to turn white. When Bryan came in, he smiled and walked over to the bed. He pulled the book out of Rory's hands and for once sweetly kissed her on the lips. Rory was surprised by the carefulness of his kiss and looked up to meet his eyes.  
  
B: ''After my shower...........we're going to have some fun.''  
  
He gave her back the book and went into the bathroom. Rory who immediately knew what he meant, put her book away and waited in fear for him to come out of the shower. When he did, he was wearing nothing more than a pair of white boxers. He grinned devilishly as he approached her. Rory who suddenly got back the ability to move her muscles quickly got up and wanted to run out of the room, lock herself in the bathroom, anything to get away from him. But Bryan's reflexes unfortunately were faster. He roughly grabbed her arm and rigorously threw her back on the bed. Before Rory could get up again, he sat down on top of her. Rory started to scream and almost immediately she could feel Bryan's hand come down on her cheek. For a moment she was taken back and he took the opportunity to lift Rory's shirt up. Just feeling his rough and careless hands against her skin was enough to make her scream again. Bryan stopped and for a minute Rory thought that he was going to give up, just like the times before, but he didn't. Instead he grabbed one of his socks that was lying around and stuffed it in her mouth. Now she could scream as much as she wanted and no one would hear her. He smiled at her and started to kiss her bare stomach, slowly working his way down. He started to make little circles on her stomach with his tongue while he rubbed her thighs. His tongue was like a hot flame, burning her with every touch. Rory tried to fight him, but Bryan just pinned her two arms above her head and continued devouring her with his steaming and hungry kisses. Finally he stopped and looked at her.  
  
B: ''I'm going to have to let you go for a minute. Please don't try to fight me, okay princess ?''  
  
Rory nodded. When he let go of her arms, she realized that she was too scared and panicked to move. She couldn't even cry. She shifted her gaze to see what he was doing. He reached for the end-table that was standing right next to the bed, wondering what he was doing. Bryan saw her looking and grinned.  
  
B: ''Don't worry, I'm not done yet. I'm just getting a condom. We don't want you to get pregnant now.''  
  
Rory's breathing started to get heavier when her mind processed his words. He was really going to do it. He was going to rape her. Rory started to think off al the stories about rape that made the front page of the paper. She always felt sorry for the girls, even though she didn't even know them. And the worst part was, she wasn't even going to make the front page, cause she would never be able to report it. She closed her eyes and forced herself to clam down. This was only going to happen if she would let him. And she wasn't. It was as simple as that. She opened her eyes again and saw him open the drawer of the end-table. Rory planted her hands flat against his chest and pushed him as hard as she could. Because he wasn't expecting this, he had let his guard down and fell off the bed. Rory quickly rolled off the bed and landed on her hands and knees. She pulled the sock out of her mouth and got up, hoping that he hadn't yet. But he had. He was standing on the other end of the bed with flaming eyes.  
  
B: ''Why is it such a hassle to get you in bed ? I mean you fucking sleep with that Jess boy and when I want to, you start acting like a damn baby !''  
  
R: ''I didn't sleep with him.''  
  
B: ''Like hell you didn't !''  
  
Rory glanced at the door and wondered if she could make it. Only one way to find out. She started to run towards the door, but stopped when Bryan appeared in front of her.  
  
B: ''I don't think so...........princess.''  
  
He winked at her and took a step towards her. Rory immediately started to back up, until she reached Bryan's dresser. She glanced at Bryan who was coming closer by the second. He had trapped her. Almost subconsciously she reached behind her to pull open a drawer. Praying that it was the right one she reached into the drawer. She felt the gun. A thought ran through her that she didn't really know how to use a gun, sure she saw some movies, but this was different. This was real. She dismissed that thought and picked up the gun. Before she knew it she was pointing it at Bryan. He just smirked as he took another step towards her.  
  
B: ''You don't know how to use it.''  
  
R: ''I........I've seen enough movies.''  
  
B: ''Are you sure that it's loaded ?''  
  
Rory didn't think about that. What if it wasn't loaded ? Well, she hoped it was and if it wasn't she could still hit him with it. What was she thinking ? She couldn't shoot him. But when Bryan came even closer, she panicked and did the only thing that crossed her mind. She pulled the trigger. There was a load bang, that seemed to shake every wall in the room and Bryan collapsed on the floor, pressing his hands against the wound. Rory saw the blood and dropped the gun. By his face she could tell that he was in a lot of pain. For a minute she seemed unable to move, shocked by what she had just done. But when she saw the wound in Bryan's chest, she snapped out of it and ran into the living room, trying to ignore Bryan who was yelling at her. She grabbed the phone and dialed the first number that came to her mind.  
  
J: ''Yeah ?''  
  
R: ''Jess, you've gotta help me.''  
  
J: ''Rory ? What's wrong ?''  
  
R: ''I shot him. I didn't mean to,but he was.......''  
  
J: ''Who did you shoot ?''  
  
R: ''Bryan. He has a gun and when he grabbed for the condom I got off the bed and..........''  
  
J: ''Condom ?''  
  
R: ''You have to help me.''  
  
J: ''I will. Give me the address.''  
  
Rory gave him the address, while she kept shooting glances at her bedroom. Bryan stopped yelling at her.  
  
R: ''Jess, he stopped yelling. What am I going to do ? I killed him ! I'm going to jail.''  
  
J: ''Rory, you're not going to jail.''  
  
R: ''Yes I did. I killed him. I killed Bryan.''  
  
J: ''He's probably just unconscious.''  
  
R: ''Unconscious, right. What do I do ?''  
  
J: ''Nothing. Stay there and I'll be there as soon as I can.''  
  
R: ''Please hurry.''  
  
After Jess had hung up, Rory was able to call the ambulance the give them the address before she broke down crying. 


	6. A silent memory

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. Except for Bryan. (who's out of the picture after this chapter) All I own is my imagination en the plot.  
  
*A/N: Heya my partners in crime! Well you're not my partners in crime yet. But right after I post this chapter I have a plan to murder Bryan and you guys are welcome to join me. Bring whatever weapon you want. Okay, seriously though, I hope Bryan got what he deserved. Hit the review button and give me your opinion on this chapter. What's your favorite part ? (and what weapon are you taking with you ?) ;-) Thanks for all the reviews! You guys rock even more than the rock in rock&roll!  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
When Jess reached Bryan's apartment, the ambulance had already arrived and even the cops had made an appearance. For some reason he always felt uncomfortable around the police. Maybe cause he used to get in trouble so much when he was younger. As he made his way up the stairs to the main entrance, the door flew open and two paramedics carrying a stretcher came out of the building. As Jess past them, he couldn't help to throw a glance at the person that was lying on the stretcher. A relatively normal-looking guy with brown hair. Nothing unusual about him, except for the bullet wound in his chest that was. Jess wondered if this could be Bryan ? He didn't look like your usual wife-beater, but then again they never did. He hurried up the steps, hoping that the cops hadn't talked to Rory yet. They would just freak her out more. She wasn't used to talking to cops, now he had some experience in that department. When he reached the apartment, the place was practically crawling with cops. He slipped in to the apartment unnoticed and found Rory sitting in a corner of the living room, trying to make herself invisible. Which was working, cause not a single cop had stopped to talk to her yet. Jess ignored the looks that he was getting from the police officers and walked over to Rory. He kneeled down in front of her, feeling genuinely sorry. She never deserved this.  
  
J: ''Rory ?''  
  
Rory didn't look up and kept her face buried in her arms.  
  
R: ''I didn't mean to. I didn't mean to............I didn't mean to.''  
  
Jess reached for her arm and pulled her into a comforting embrace. To his surprise Rory didn't try to stop him, she just rested her head against his chest and kept crying.  
  
J: ''It's going to be okay.''  
  
R: ''No it isn't. I killed him.''  
  
Her cries got louder and Jess pulled her even closer. Ever since he saw Rory again, he had been thinking about how much he wanted to hold her in his arms again. And now that he was, he wished that he didn't have to. Not like this.  
  
J: ''You didn't kill him. He's already on his way to the hospital.''  
  
He caught a cop looking at him and sighed. Guess it was time to talk to the cops. He gently pushed Rory away from him and met her eyes for a second.  
  
J: ''I have to go talk to the police now, okay ?''  
  
Rory nodded and made herself as small as possible as soon as Jess had let go of her. She observed Jess as he talked to a police officer. She couldn't believe how calm and in control he seemed of that conversation.  
  
When Jess saw Rory watching him, he shot her a comforting smile and ended the conversation as quickly as the officer would let him. He kneeled in front of her again, glad that she wasn't crying anymore.  
  
J: ''You have to go down to the police station for a little while.''  
  
Rory shook her head and got a panicked look in her eyes.  
  
R: ''I don't want to.''  
  
J: ''You have to. All you have to do is tell them how he treated you for the past year and show him the bruises.''  
  
Rory was quiet for a while, as if she was weighing the importance of his words against the fact that she just shot somebody. Finally she looked up at Jess again.  
  
R: ''Are you coming with me ?''  
  
Jess smiled at her. Just the fact that she wanted him to come with her made him think back about the time that they spend together in Stars Hollow. But when he realized what he was doing, he abruptly put a top to his flow of thoughts. This wasn't the time.  
  
J: ''Of course.''  
  
R: ''Thanks.''  
  
Jess helped her up and he guided her towards the door, down the stairs and to his car. Knowing that Jess would be with her was enough for her to think that everything would turn out okay. Some of her optimism returned. It was just a spark, but at least it was there.  
  
*~*~*  
  
While Rory was locked up in room, talking to one of the officers, Jess patiently waited. He was too busy sorting out his thoughts to even notice the sound of time ticking away. And if he wasn't sorting out his own thoughts, he would be busy dealing with worries about Rory. He knew that the cops would probably let her go, because it was self-defense, but what if they didn't. Just as he was trying to find an answer to that question, a door opened and interrupted him. He looked up, already knowing that it was Rory. He silently studied her as she slightly smiled at the officer and politely shook his hand. After that she turned around and made her way over to him.  
  
J: ''Hey.''  
  
R: ''Hey.''  
  
Rory smiled at him and a smirk appeared on his face, wiping away all the traces of worry and doubt that had been on his face before. It was alright. He could see it in her eyes. Back at the apartment something had been missing in them, something that was hard to explain. But one look at her glistering eyes told him that she wasn't putting up an act. He still wanted to hear it from her though.  
  
J: ''How did things go ?''  
  
R: ''They said that it was self-defense and since I have the prove to show it.........''  
  
For a minute her eyes darkened and turned into pools of sadness, so deep that you couldn't tell where the sadness ended and she lowered her eyes. But when she looked up at Jess again the pain and agony was gone.  
  
R: ''...........I don't get any charges.''  
  
She sat down next to him, clasping her hands together in her lap.  
  
J: ''What about Bryan ?''  
  
R: ''He's going to jail as soon as the hospital says it's okay.''  
  
J: ''Good.''  
  
Rory nodded, not quite sure what to say. Bryan deserved this. He deserved to go to jail. He wouldn't be able to hurt her anymore, or anyone for that matter.  
  
R: ''Yeah, good.''  
  
Jess got out his cell phone and handed it to Rory. She took it with a confused look in her eyes and before she could ask him he already answered her.  
  
J: ''Call your mom.''  
  
Rory looked at the phone. Right, her mom. Of course she needed to know about this and everything that had happened the past couple of months.  
  
J: ''I'm going to get us some coffee.''  
  
R: ''You drink coffee ?''  
  
Jess shrugged.  
  
J: ''It's kind of a necessity when I'm spending time with you.''  
  
Rory smiled at his comments and watched him walk away with his hands in his pockets. Right there and then he reminded her so much of the 17-year-old Jess that came to take her order almost every day. Even when he wasn't working he would take her order. She took a deep breath and dialed her mom's number with a small smile brightening up her face.  
  
*~*~*  
  
When Jess came back with the coffee, Rory was just ending her conversation with her mom and by the looks of the smile on her face, things went pretty well.  
  
R: ''I love you too mom.''  
  
Rory hung up and aimed her warm smile at Jess when she saw the coffee.  
  
R: ''Coffee.''  
  
Jess smirked as he handed her one of the cups of coffee.  
  
J: ''It's not as good as what you're used to, but it'll do.''  
  
Rory handed him back the cell phone as she took a sip of the warm liquid that could always calm her down no matter how she felt. They sat in silence for a while. Rory drinking her coffee and thinking about everything that had happened to her in the last 24 hours and Jess doing the same. Only his mind was filled with thoughts from the past. His past to be exact. His past in New York and his past in Stars Hollow, where he met this remarkable girl with an even more remarkable heart and personality. He smiled at the silence between them. It reminded him of a glass window. They could open and close it whenever they wanted. It brought good memories to the surface. Most of them laid their scene at the bridge. The coffee on the other hand reminded him of the diner where he had spend the remain of his time. But all his memories lead him back to one person. To the brown-haired girl, woman by now, with her sincere, blue eyes that broke right through his careless and rough boy attitude. She was the only person that he would open up too, she was the only one who knew all the sides of his personality and she was the only person who didn't care how many mistakes he made or how many flaws he had.  
  
R: ''Jess, could you drive me to Stars Hollow ?''  
  
Jess turned his head and locked eyes with Rory.  
  
R: ''My mom thought that it would be best for me if I spend some time away from........well everything. I haven't seen her or Luke for a while so I agreed.''  
  
J: ''For once I agree with Lorelai.''  
  
R: ''So, you'll take me ? If you don't want to I'll completely understand, I mean I can take a buss or something.''  
  
J: ''Rory, I'll take you.''  
  
R: ''Are you sure ?''  
  
J: ''Yeah, it's no problem. Besides I kind of want to see Luke too.''  
  
R: ''I'm sure he would want to see you too.''  
  
J: ''So, shall we ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah, but can we drive by the hospital first ?''  
  
J: ''Why ?''  
  
R: ''Please ?''  
  
J: Fine.''  
  
He started to head for the door with Rory close behind him. Even though she didn't tell him, he knew that she wanted to check on Bryan. A part of him wanted to stop her, but the other part of him understood that she had to do this. Besides after this Bryan would never lay eyes on Rory ever again.  
  
*~*~*  
  
When they reached the hospital, Jess agreed to wait for Rory in the waiting area while she went to see Bryan for one last time. When Rory reached Bryan's room, she stopped and looked at him through the transparent glass. By the looks of it he was asleep. Rory took a deep breath and quietly went into the room. Her gaze almost immediately went to the white bandage that was wrapped around his chest. She still couldn't believe that she was the one who caused it. Hesitantly she took a couple of steps towards him until she reached the small table that was standing next to the bed. She didn't say anything as he took of the ring that he had given to her on their third date. It was a silver ring in the shape of a square. In the middle was a plain, white stone in the shape of a heart. Nothing special, but back then it meant everything to Bryan. And even when he started to hit her, she hadn't taken it off. Maybe cause part of her still believed that he loved her. But now she realized that what he had been doing wasn't love. She carefully placed the ring on the table and looked at Bryan's face one last time. If he hadn't been this violent he could have been the perfect boyfriend. Cause she had actually loved him the first two months of their relationship. She shot him one last look and left the room as quietly as she entered it. She found Jess sitting in the waiting area. As soon as he saw her, he got up and walked over to her. They exchanged a smile and that was all it took to reassure Jess that everything was okay. They started to head towards his car.  
  
R: ''You know we have to drive by my place first to pick up my stuff, right ?''  
  
J: ''That did cross my mind.''  
  
He smiled at her as they continued to walk. Suddenly he felt Rory's fingers entwine with his. Without saying a word they kept walking. 


	7. Great minds think alike

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey! Bryan's gone, Rory's back in Stars Hollow and she's happy, right ? Well, not quite. Don't worry Jess will be back........better than ever! I know this chapter.....well sucks, but I had a lot of trouble writing it. Everyone can have a bad day, right ? *puts on The World's Greatest by R.Kelly* Thanks for the reviews and pretend that R. Kelly's singing: 'You're the World's Greatest' instead of 'I'm the World's greatest. Cause you guys are the world's greatest reviewers EVER!  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
Before Jess could properly stop his car, Rory had already opened the door and was on her way to the front door by the time he finally got out of the car. Rory rang the doorbell and nervously wrung her hands together as she impatiently waited for her mom to open the door. She glanced over her shoulder at Jess, who was leaning against his car. He caught her glance with his and smiled a consolatory smile at her. Finally the door opened and Rory was not only greeted by her mom, but also by her grandparents and Luke. As soon as Lorelai saw Rory, she squealed and threw her arms around her daughter. Rory returned the gesture and smiled at how tight her mom was hugging her.  
  
L: ''I'm glad you're here. I missed you.''  
  
R: ''Same here.''  
  
Lorelai let go of Rory and looked at her.  
  
L: ''You're glad I'm here ? Where would I be if I wasn't here ? I mean I live here. Okay, half of the time I'm at Luke's, but that's still here. Here meaning Stars Hollow.''  
  
Luke: ''I think she got the point Lorelai.''  
  
L: ''Yeah, she's smart like that.''  
  
Luke rolled his eyes and let out a frustration sigh, even though he didn't really mean it. Rory walked past her mom and went over to Luke.  
  
R: ''Hey Luke.''  
  
Luke: ''Rory.''  
  
Rory smiled as she hugged Luke. Luke carefully placed his arms around her and gently hugged her back like he was afraid to crush her or something. When he let go, he had an embarrassed look on his face which just made Rory wanna laugh. While she hugged her grandparents and reassured them that she was doing fine, Lorelai and Luke finally noticed Jess, who was still standing by the car.  
  
Luke: ''Jess ?''  
  
Luke walked down the steps and over to Jess.  
  
Luke: ''What are you doing here ?''  
  
J: ''Just driving Mrs. Daisy.''  
  
The two men stood across from each other for a while, staring awkwardly at each other. Then both of them started to grin and to both Rory and Lorelai's surprise they hugged each other.  
  
L: ''Ah, look coffee man and diner boy are bonding. That's so sweet.''  
  
E: ''I wish you would stop referring to them as coffee man and diner boy. They have names you know ?''  
  
L: ''I know, but coffee man and diner boy sounds funner.''  
  
E: ''Are you aware that funner is not an actual word ?''  
  
L: ''It isn't ? Or maybe I'm just the first one to use it ?''  
  
E: ''You know, I don't find it amusing. Especially not when you're mocking me.''  
  
Richard: ''I agree with your mother Lorelai. And I'm pretty sure funner isn't a real word.''  
  
L: ''Fine, spoil my fun. Ruin my imagination. You know, because of you I will never be able to make up words ever again.''  
  
E: ''Stop being so dramatic.''  
  
Richard: Shall we go in to the house ?''  
  
L: ''We'll be right there dad.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, we've got to get my bags first.''  
  
E: ''You shouldn't be carrying those bags by yourself. Did you ever think of hiring a maid ?''  
  
Lorelai rolled her eyes at her mom.  
  
E: ''I saw that.''  
  
L: ''I think we can manage to carry our own bags mom. Now go inside, we'll be right there.''  
  
E: ''Fine, come on Richard.''  
  
When Emily and Richard went inside, Lorelai let out a sigh of relief.  
  
L: ''Finally. So, guys, how are those bags coming ?''  
  
Luke shot her another one of his annoyed looks as he took a couple of Rory's bags out of the car. Jess took the remaining bag and followed Luke to the door.  
  
Luke: ''You could have helped us you know ?''  
  
L: ''But Luke, I'm just a weak girl without muscles. And you on the other hand have muscles, lots of them.''  
  
Lorelai playfully ran one of her hands over Luke's arm. Luke sighed and went into the house with Lorelai closely behind him. Rory smiled and shook her head. Those two were still at it. Jess walked up to her and stopped.  
  
J: ''Those too are so obvious.''  
  
R: ''Except to themselves.''  
  
J: ''Right.''  
  
He locked eyes with her for a moment, until she started to feel uncomfortable and went into the house. Jess dropped the bag on the floor and followed Rory into the living room, wondering why he couldn't define the look in her eyes that he just saw. When they arrived in the living room, Emily and Lorelai were arguing, Richard was sitting on the couch with his hands clasped in his lap and Luke was trying to get Lorelai to stop arguing. In spite of all the shouting and arguing that was going on, Rory wouldn't want to be anywhere else right now. Well, maybe one place else. She sat down next to her grandpa on the couch and watched her mom and grandma argue with a smile on her face. Jess sat down next to Luke.  
  
Luke: ''Jess.''  
  
J: ''Yeah ?''  
  
Luke: ''How is she doing ?''  
  
He nodded in Rory's direction. Jess followed his gaze and rested his own on Rory.  
  
J: ''She's doing okay.''  
  
Luke: ''Did............that guy, hurt her bad ?''  
  
J: ''She has bruises if that's what you mean.''  
  
Luke: ''I hate him.''  
  
J: ''Ditto.''  
  
Suddenly Emily and Lorelai stopped arguing and focused their attention at Rory, as if they just realized that she was in the room.  
  
E: ''So dear, please tell me that this Bryan is going to be locked up forever ?''  
  
L: ''Real subtile mom.''  
  
E: ''What ? It's just a simple question.''  
  
L: ''Maybe she doesn't want to talk about it. Did you ever think about that ?''  
  
E: ''Nonsense. Of course she wants to talk about it.''  
  
L: ''Since when do you decide for her ?''  
  
R: ''It's okay mom. Bryan's going to jail as soon as the hospital gives permission.''  
  
Richard: ''Good.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, good.''  
  
Suddenly she regretted telling them that it was okay. By saying that she had practically invited them to ask her all sorts of questions about Bryan and what he had been doing to her. When really she didn't wanna talk about it. Right now she didn't even wanna think about it. So instead of telling them that she didn't wanna talk about, she decided to take the easy way out and run. Postponing their questions till later when she was ready to talk about it. Rory got up, which cause everyone in the room, including Jess to look at her.  
  
L: ''Where are you going ?''  
  
R: ''I'm going for a walk.''  
  
E: ''Now ?''  
  
L: ''Okay sweetie, just be back in an hour, okay ?''  
  
R: ''I will.''  
  
After Rory closed the door behind her, Jess got up too and told everyone that he was going to have a smoke which received disapproving looks from Emily and Richard. He on the other hand just found it amusing. He didn't smoke anymore, well only if he was worried or upset about something, which hadn't happened a lot until Rory showed up again out of her secret hiding place. But he didn't mind. If spending time with Rory meant worrying about her and smoking a couple of cigarets and so be it. He reached for his pack of cigarettes and looked at it before he threw it in a trash can that he passed. He had this feeling that he didn't have to worry about Rory anymore. He smiled and hid his hands in his pockets as he continued following the path that would lead him to his favorite spot in Stars Hollow. The spot that just happened to be her favorite spot too.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Rory's thoughts were interrupted when she heard footsteps on the bridge. She smiled, already knowing that it was Jess. After all these years he still remembered. She turned her head and smiled at Jess, who was standing behind her now. For some reason that reminded her of the night of the dance marathon. They both went to the bridge that night, both for a different reason that was still the same. Jess nodded at her as he looked down on her, even after all these years still amazed by the color of her eyes. Some would call it blue, but he knew that that would never even come close to describing the true color of her eyes.  
  
J: ''Hey.''  
  
R: ''Hey.''  
  
Jess ran his hand through his hair, that had the exact same color as the night sky and sat down next to Rory, letting his legs dangle above the water, copying her actions.  
  
J: ''So, are you okay ?''  
  
Rory nodded and looked down at the water again. She liked the lake better during the say. Cause during the day it looked like a copy of their world, mirrored in the water. Now all she could see was the dark sky mirrored in the water, making it look like a deep and black pit. She wondered how far you would fall if you fell in the water at night ? Maybe you would fall into another world ? Rory shook her head and softly laughed.  
  
J: ''So, you're going to stay here for a while huh ?''  
  
Rory shrugged.  
  
R: ''Probably.''  
  
J: ''Well, I hate to make this short, but I've got an apartment to get back to.''  
  
R: ''You're leaving already ?''  
  
She looked up and met Jess' eyes. At night they were even darker than the lake, but for some reason she knew that she didn't mind falling and getting lost in them.  
  
J: ''Yeah, I have a job to get back to.''  
  
R: ''Right, a job. I used to have one............before Bryan.''  
  
J: ''Listen, Rory, I know he didn't treat you well and hurt you, but he's gone now, so don't let anybody tell you what to do okay ? You are the only person you need to listen to.''  
  
R: ''I know, thanks for clearing that up though.''  
  
Jess smirked at her.  
  
J: ''Walk me to my car ?''  
  
R: ''Sure.''  
  
They got up and slowly made their way towards Jess' car. When they reached his car, he turned around to face her.  
  
J: ''Thanks for walking me to the car.''  
  
R: ''I always though you were supposed to walk a person to the door ?''  
  
Jess shrugged.  
  
J: ''The car has a door.''  
  
Rory smiled and looked up at him.  
  
R: ''It was great seeing you again.''  
  
J: ''Well, it's great to be seen by you.''  
  
Rory took another step towards Jess, so they were standing only inches away from each other.  
  
R: ''Thanks................for everything.''  
  
Before she knew what she was doing she put her arms around Jess' neck and pulled him closer. Jess slipped one of his arms around her waist, not putting too much pressure on it, cause he didn't want to hurt her. Rory smiled at how gentle he was. Her bruises didn't hurt that much anymore, but it was thoughtful of him to remember. Finally Rory let him go and took a step back so she could look into his eyes again.  
  
J: ''Any time Ror.''  
  
The wind blew a strand of Rory's hair in her eyes and Jess couldn't resist to reach out and wipe the piece of hair away from her face. As he did this, his fingers slightly grazed Rory's cheek and he could feel her tremble under his touch. He tucked the strand of hair behind her hair and returned his fingers to her cheek. He slide his fingers up to her eye. The black had faded, but you could still see the damage that Bryan had done. He started to caress her eyes, but Rory turned her head and forced him to stop.  
  
R: ''You better go.''  
  
J: ''I'm sorry.''  
  
He shot Rory one more look before he got in his car and drove off. While he was driving, he had to force himself from making a u-turn and driving right back to Stars Hollow. 


	8. Our paths will entangle when the time's ...

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey! Sorry I didn't update yesterday, but I was actually doing some research on poetry for my other story 'I guess, you say'. Who ever thought that writing actually required reading poetry ? Anyway thanks for the kind reviews I got on the last chapter and even though I don't mainly write for the reviews it's great to get them and read what's on your mind. Please be so kind to review this chapter too. Thank you, thank you very much!  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
As soon as Rory woke up the next morning, her eyes unintentionally found their way to the chair that was standing across from her bed. Even though her curtains were closed, some of the rays found their way through and were throwing their light across the floor, trying to cover the entire room with their yellow shadows. But the corner with the chair remained dark and unreachable to the dazzling brilliance of the sun. For a minute she thought she saw the vague silhouette of Bryan, but when she blinked there was nothing there. But in that second her heart had started to beat faster, her pulse started to race and she had planted her sweaty palms firmly against the soft fabric of her sheets. Cause in that second she thought that he had been there to take her again. Rory threw the sheets off of her, cause she was sweating all over and pulled open her curtains in one quick movement. Now her entire room was sparkling in the playful rays of the sun. Rory's heart went back to its normal rate and she let out a sigh of relief, knowing that she had just been seeing things. She got up and looked around her room once more, to make sure that there was nothing out of the ordinary present, before she locked herself in the bathroom.  
  
When she came out of the bathroom, she felt confident and was ready to face everything that the world was planning on throwing at her today. She would catch every problem, jump over every obstacle and dance around her worries. She even found the courage to wear a shirt with short sleeves again. Her bruises weren't that clearly visible anymore and the weather was too warm for a long sleeved shirt. After Rory looked at herself in the mirror to reassure herself that the bruises were starting to fade, she went into the kitchen with a small smile on her face. She found a note that her mom and left her and quickly read it only to find that her mother was waiting at Luke's for her. The thought of coffee was enough to make her forgot everything and before she knew it she was walking over to the door. Just as she reached for the doorknob, the doorbell rang. Rory jerked in surprise and pulled her hand back. Realizing that it was just the doorbell she shook her head and reached to open the door. Talk about being paranoid. When she opened the door she came face to face with probably one of the most caring people in the world.  
  
R: ''Dean ?''  
  
The once floppy haired guy, looked at her, not really sure what to say or do.  
  
D: ''Hey Ror.''  
  
Rory smiled at him and quickly hugged him. She hadn't seen or spoken him for a while and it was nice to be able to just hug him again. Dean gave her a friendly hug back and took a step back to look at her.  
  
R: ''What are you doing here ?''  
  
D: ''Jess called me and filled me in on what happened.''  
  
R: ''He did ? How ? He doesn't have your number.''  
  
D: ''Apparently he does.''  
  
Rory thought about it for a while and remembered her address book. She left it at Jess' apartment.  
  
D: ''So, can we talk ?''  
  
R: ''Sure. Outside okay ?''  
  
D: ''Whatever works for you.''  
  
R: ''Outside it is.''  
  
Rory closed the door behind her and lead Dean to the gazebo, cause the day was too beautiful to watch it pass you by while you looked at it from behind a window. One they reached the gazebo, they both sat down facing each other. Dean with one hand in his lap and the other lying casually on the back of the bench. And Rory sitting cross-legged with both her hands lying in her lap.  
  
R: ''So, you wanted to talk ?''  
  
D: ''Right, talk. Well............''  
  
R: ''Dean ?''  
  
D: ''Yeah ?''  
  
He looked at her.  
  
R: ''Bryan said that he went by your place and he told me that he convinced you not to go to the cops............ How did he convince you ?''  
  
Dean sighed and ran one of his hands through his hair.  
  
R: ''I mean did he hit you ?''  
  
Dean shook his head.  
  
D: ''He threatened to hurt my girlfriend if I didn't do as he said.''  
  
R: ''Your girlfriend ?''  
  
D: ''Yeah.''  
  
R: ''I'm sorry.''  
  
They sat in silence for a while. Rory couldn't believe he didn't tell her about his girlfriend.  
  
D: ''Listen, Rory..........I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Kaci.''  
  
R: ''Why didn't you ?''  
  
Dean shrugged.  
  
D: ''It just felt weird talking about her with you of all people.''  
  
R: ''Dean, we broke up a while ago. It would have been okay if you told me, you know ? I would have understood.''  
  
D: ''I know you would have. I just didn't feel comfortable with it.''  
  
R: ''Okay.''  
  
D: ''Okay ?''  
  
Rory nodded and smiled at him.  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
Dean locked eyes with hers and stopped smiling when he noticed the bruises and her bruises eye.  
  
D: ''He did that to you didn't he ?''  
  
He pointed at her eye and Rory nodded.  
  
D: ''Those too ?''  
  
Rory followed his gaze to her arms and looked up at him again.  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
D: ''I'm sorry.''  
  
Rory shrugged.  
  
R: ''It's over now.''  
  
Dean tried to meet Rory's eyes, but she just avoided them. Finally she heard Dean get up.  
  
D: ''I should get going. I promised Kaci I would be home on time.''  
  
R: ''I understand. Thanks.''  
  
Dean started to head for the steps, but stopped and turned around to face Rory again.  
  
D: ''You should come by some time. I'm sure you two would get along great.''  
  
Rory slowly brought her eyes up to meet his and smiled at him again.  
  
R: ''I will''  
  
D: ''Good. Bye Ror, take care.''  
  
R: ''Drive safely.''  
  
Dean laughed softly and gave her one last look before he went to his care and drove off. Rory got up and decided that it was definitely time for some coffee.  
  
*~*~*  
  
When Rory entered the diner, she walked over to the counter and sat down next to her mom.  
  
L: ''Hey sweets. What took you so long ?''  
  
R: ''Dean came to see me.''  
  
L: ''Really ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah. Apparently Jess called him.''  
  
L: ''Jess called Dean ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
L: ''But aren't they like enemies for life ?''  
  
Rory shrugged and thankfully took a sip of the coffee that Luke had just placed in front of her.  
  
L: ''Maybe it was Jess disguised as Dean.''  
  
R: ''Explain the logic of that ?''  
  
Luke: ''Yes, please do.''  
  
L: ''Well, Jess is really a skinless being.''  
  
R: ''Skinless ?''  
  
L: ''Yeah, he wears the skin of other human beings as a costume.''  
  
R: ''So, basically you're telling me that Jess isn't really Jess, cause he's really a skinless being and he only looks like the Jess we know, cause he found someone who looked like a Jess ?''  
  
L: ''Exactly. And now that he got sick of the Jess skin, he ripped off Dean's skin and put that on.''  
  
R: ''What about the Jess skin ?''  
  
L: ''Dean's wearing that now.''  
  
R: ''So, Jess is Dean and Dean is Jess, got it.''  
  
Rory took another sip of her coffee.  
  
R: ''Nice visual by the way.''  
  
L: ''You know, we could probably sell a piece of Jess' skin for a lot of money.''  
  
R: ''I'll call Dean tomorrow.''  
  
The two Gilmore Girls preceded in drinking their coffee, while Luke was looking at them with a confused look on his face.  
  
Luke: ''You do know that that conversation made absolutely no sense at all, right ?''  
  
Both Lorelai and Rory nodded.  
  
Luke: ''You two are wacked.''  
  
*~*~*  
  
After they had finished their coffee, Lorelai went to the Inn after making sure with Rory that it was okay. But Rory reassured her that it was okay and went home herself. At home, she grabbed the phone and sat down on her bed as she dialed the number that was practically engraved in her memory.  
  
J: ''Jess Mariano speaking.''  
  
R: ''Hey Jess.''  
  
J: ''Rory.........how are things going ?''  
  
R: ''Fine. I just had my first cup of Luke's coffee, so I'm on a caffeine rush.''  
  
J: ''You're addicted.''  
  
R: ''Am not, well.........maybe. So, how are things in The Big Apple ?''  
  
J: ''Appely.''  
  
R: ''You're mocking me.''  
  
J: ''I could have said New Yorky instead.''  
  
R: ''Or New York Citey.''  
  
J: ''I'm having trouble pronouncing that one correctly.''  
  
R: ''It's easy, New York Citey.''  
  
J: ''You know what, suddenly The Big Apple doesn't sound so bad.''  
  
Rory laughed and she knew that Jess was smirking on the other side of the line.  
  
R: ''I actually called to thank you.''  
  
J: ''For.............''  
  
R: ''For calling Dean. I really appreciate it.''  
  
J: ''It was no problem. I said hey, he said hey and before I knew it he hung up on me.''  
  
R: ''He did not.''  
  
J: ''He didn't ?''  
  
R: ''No, he came by today.''  
  
J: ''Huh, he did ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah. He has a girlfriend now.''  
  
J: ''Let me guess, tall, blonde and works as a model ?''  
  
R: ''Jess..........''  
  
Jess chuckled.  
  
J: ''Sorry....................she doesn't happen to be a cheerleader, does he ?''  
  
R: ''Remind me again why I called you ?''  
  
J: ''To thank me.''  
  
R: ''What was I thinking ?''  
  
J: ''You were thinking that you miss me ?''  
  
Rory laughed, but stopped when she realized that it was true. She did miss him. On the other end of the line, Jess was quiet too.  
  
J: ''I better go.''  
  
R: ''Yeah, sorry.''  
  
J: ''Bye Rory.''  
  
Jess hung up and Rory stared at the phone for a while, before she finally put it back in the cradle. She sat down on her bed and wondered if she would ever see Jess again. In New York, Jess was lying on his bed with a smile on his face. Only he knew that their paths were going to cross again..............soon. 


	9. A whirlwind of emotional butterflies

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey all you gorgeous people who each have a heart as big as an ocean! Thanks you so much for your reviews! Without them I wouldn't enjoy writing fanfic as much as I do. After this there is only one more chapter left. So the sooner you read and review this chapter the sooner the last one will be up. Thanks!!! *And I really would like your opinion on my descriptions, are they improving ?*  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
It was on a sunny and blissful morning that Rory Gilmore decided to go to the bridge and spend the day there. She had been there for a while now, wrapped up in a book of short stories by different authors that had published some of the greatest novels that were ever written. Rory was so preoccupied that she missed seeing the first yellow of the sun break through the aurora and mix its yellow light with the scarlet of the sky, until finally the redness of the morning faded and the clear blue of the afternoon sky emerged. She was even too absorbed in her book to notice the quiet footsteps that were slowly making their way through the green grass and the colorful flowers that were scattered everywhere. Even when the footsteps made their way onto the bridge, she didn't notice. But as those footsteps came closer and the bridge creaked under their weight, Rory finally noticed and forced her eyes away from the page she was reading, so she could look up and see who it was that had decided to disturb her peace. As soon as she locked eyes with the person, the world around her fell quiet. The leaves stopped whispering, the birds stopped singing their cheerful songs and even the wind stopped playing with the pages of her book.  
  
R: ''Jess.''  
  
She shot him a warm smile. Her smile carried itself over to the other side of the bridge and gently grazed against Jess' face, tugging at the corners of his mouth until a playful smirk appeared on his face. Jess found it incredible the way just her smile could have such an effect on him. And he found it even more amazing that she seemed so happy to see him.  
  
J: ''Hey.''  
  
He stopped in front of here, covering Rory's book and herself with his shadow, and looked down at her.  
  
J: ''So, what are you doing ?''  
  
Jess lowered himself to her height and sat down next to her.  
  
R: ''Reading.''  
  
She got up from her comfortable position on her stomach and swung her legs over the edge of the bridge. She closed her book and started tapping her fingers on the cover. Jess took this short gap of time to quickly observe her. When he saw that the bruises were almost gone and the blue at her eye had faded a pleased smile appeared on his face.  
  
R: ''So, what are you doing here ?''  
  
J: ''I wanted to ask you something.''  
  
R: ''You could have just called.''  
  
J: ''I can drive back to New York and call you from there if you want ?''  
  
Rory stopped tapping her fingers and rolled her eyes at Jess. Jess softly laughed at her reaction and dropped his gaze to her delicate fingers as they started tapping again. Rory followed his gaze and abruptly stopped tapping when she saw what he was looking at. She put the book down next to her and clasped her hands together in her lap.  
  
R: ''What do you wanna ask me ?''  
  
J: ''I was wondering if you would want to come back to New York with me ?''  
  
Jess asked that question without hesitation, he had repeated that question over and over in his head until only seconds before he actually asked her the question. His eyes that were focused on the water during the question, looked up and glanced at her. Rory caught his glance with hers, not sure if she heard his question correctly.  
  
R: ''What ?''  
  
J: ''I swear I won't let anything happen to you and this way you can put that Yale diploma of yours to use.''  
  
Rory searched his eyes to see if he was sincere and to her surprise he was.  
  
R: ''Why ?''  
  
Jess had expected that question and had already made up an answer for her. He locked eyes with her, blue and brown creating a dazzling mix of colors.  
  
J: ''I missed being around you and I missed talking to you.''  
  
The answer was swift, but it didn't matter, cause it was true. He had missed being around her, he had missed that sweet smile of hers, the way her hair danced around her face in the wind and a million other things that only he had noticed throughout the years that he had known her.  
  
Rory thought about what he said for a while and asked herself if she had missed him too. As soon as she did a genuine smile appeared on her face. Yeah, she had missed him too. Finally Rory looked up at him again and fought the urge to squeal.  
  
R: ''I missed you too.''  
  
In both their stomachs butterflies started to dance, creating a whirlwind of emotions. There was still one thing they were both wondering about and luckily for Jess, Rory was the one who brought it up first.  
  
R: ''We'll be living together, right ?''  
  
Jess nodded, patiently waiting for her to continue.  
  
R: ''As friends ?''  
  
J: ''If that's what you want.''  
  
Rory shrugged, awkwardly pressing her clasped hands against her stomach. Maybe subconsciously trying to control the butterflies.  
  
R: ''I don't know.''  
  
J: ''And that's fine. I won't force you do anything that you don't want to do.''  
  
Suddenly a sly smirk graced Jess' features, making him look like a 17-year- old boy again.  
  
J: ''I promise I won't make you scream. Well, maybe when we're doing something else.''  
  
He looked at her suggestively and was rewarded with a playful hit on the arm from Rory.  
  
R: ''I better go break the news to my mom.''  
  
She laughed and got up, waiting for Jess to do the same. But Jess didn't, instead he grabbed the book that Rory had been reading earlier and opened it.  
  
J: ''I think I'll stay here for a while. Until the storm has passed anyway.''  
  
Jess flashed her one of his teasing smirks and went back to the book, missing Rory rolling her eyes at him before she started to head home.  
  
*~*~*  
  
R: ''Mom !?''  
  
Rory shut the door behind her and wandered into the living room, where she found her mom sitting on the couch with a bored expression on her face.  
  
L: ''Thank God you're here. There's absolutely nothing on TV and I'm so bored.''  
  
R: ''How can there be nothing on TV when obviously you're watching something ?''  
  
L: ''If commercials count, then yeah I was watching something.''  
  
R: ''That bad huh ?''  
  
L: ''Yeah, I would recommend people not to watch television during the day. I mean seriously, now I know why we have movie nights instead of movie days.''  
  
R: ''Right. Besides Scream isn't as scary during the day as it is during the night.''  
  
L: ''Scream isn't scary. A man walks around, wearing this stupid looking mask and kills people with a hook. Where's the originality in that ?''  
  
R: ''And the plot just lost all it's originality after Scream 2 and 3.''  
  
L: ''You would think that they would at least give the killer another mask or something.''  
  
R: ''So, no more TV during the day ?''  
  
L: ''That's the plan.''  
  
R: ''Very complicated plan too.''  
  
L: ''Yeah, I mean how do you turn the TV off ? Is it that button or that one ?''  
  
R: ''I think it's the one with the word off written on it.''  
  
L: ''Oh......well are you sure that it says off ?''  
  
R: ''What else could it possibly say ?''  
  
L: ''Doff.''  
  
R: ''Doff ?''  
  
L: ''Yeah.''  
  
R: ''It has four letters instead of three.''  
  
L: ''I'll just add the d with a marker.''  
  
R: ''Make sure it isn't a black one.''  
  
L: ''So, what did you wanna talk about ?.................Unbelievable !''  
  
R: ''What ?''  
  
L: ''This is the sixth time I've seen that commercial.........in one hour !''  
  
R: ''Mom, just turn the TV off.''  
  
L: ''You mean turn it doff ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
L: ''This commercial is funny though.''  
  
R: ''Mom, please push the doff button ?''  
  
Lorelai sighed and turned off the TV.  
  
L: ''Talk.''  
  
R: ''It's about Jess.''  
  
L: ''You mean Dean ? Hey that rhymed mean Dean.''  
  
R: ''Mom.''  
  
L: ''Right, sorry. What about Jess ?''  
  
R: ''He's back ?''  
  
L: ''Back ?''  
  
Rory nodded.  
  
L: ''Like The Terminator. That's another thing I don't get. I mean, every time he just...........''  
  
R: ''I was reading at the bridge and he showed up.''  
  
L: ''Oh, he is back.''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
L: ''Well, what does he want ? Your hand in marriage ?''  
  
Lorelai smiled at her own joke, but stopped when she saw Rory's serious expression.  
  
L: ''What is it hon ? O God he didn't ask you to marry him, right ?''  
  
R: ''No, but he did ask me to go back to New York with him ?''  
  
L: ''Explain the with him part ?''  
  
Rory took a deep breath and looked at her mother.  
  
R: ''He wants me to move in with him.''  
  
L: ''Moving in as taking all your stuff and putting it in his apartment ?''  
  
R: ''Well, yeah. He said that he would protect me and that he wouldn't force me to do anything that I don't want to do. And this way I can get a job.''  
  
L: ''A job's not necessary.''  
  
R: ''Mom, I can't stay here forever. Besides I've lived in New York before.''  
  
L: ''Yeah and look what happened.''  
  
R: ''Mom, you know Jess and he would never hurt me.''  
  
L: ''Is this what you really want ?''  
  
R: ''Well, what I really want is to be named the Queen of coffee, but for now........yeah this is what I really want.''  
  
L: ''Okay.''  
  
R: ''Okay ?''  
  
L: ''Yeah, you're old enough to make your own decisions and I trust your judgement.''  
  
R: ''Thanks mom.''  
  
Rory quickly hugged her mother, glad that she got permission to move in with Jess. She knew that she didn't really need it anymore, but it was still nice to have it.  
  
L: ''When will this happen ?''  
  
Rory shrugged.  
  
R: ''Soon.''  
  
L: ''Soon as in a couple of minutes or soon as in the sequel of a movie that never makes it on the big screen ?''  
  
R: ''Tonight or tomorrow probably.''  
  
L: ''That soon huh ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
L: ''Well, you have my blessing so now I better go over to Luke's and convince him not to kill Jess for stealing you away from me...........again.''  
  
Rory rolled her eyes and smiled as her mom got her coat and left for Luke's. Rory got up and went to her room to pack. Well, there wasn't really that much to pack, since she hadn't found the time to unpack all her stuff yet, but there were a couple of clothes and books scattered around her room. As she started to put a couple of her books in one of the boxes, she heard the door open and close. Thinking that it was her mom, she didn't pay much attention to it and continued packing.  
  
J: ''Are you planning on taking all your books ?''  
  
Rory looked up and found Jess standing in door frame with his hands in his pockets.  
  
R: ''I hope you've got an empty bookcase.''  
  
J: ''We'll figure something out.''  
  
Jess walked over to Rory's bed and sat down as he watched her put the last of her books in a box. He was amazed by her collection of books. Together with his they had probably more than a local library. When Rory was down she sat down next to him on the bed.  
  
R: ''You could have helped me pack you know ?''  
  
J: ''Couldn't, my hands were cold and decided to stay in my pockets.''  
  
Rory laughed as she looked around her room, trying to see if she had forgotten anything. Jess looked at her and found it miraculously that after all this time they still got along. Without thinking twice he took of the ring that he always wore around his middle finger. It was silver and roughly shaped with a snake engraved in it. He played with it for a while before he handed it to Rory.  
  
Rory looked at the ring and then met Jess' eyes, not sure what it meant.  
  
J: ''Take it and keep it, no matter if we're friends or more or less. Just wear it.''  
  
Jess held open his palm and waited for Rory to pick the ring up. She did and slid it around her thumb, cause it was too big for her other fingers. She remembered that he was wearing this ring when she first met him. She had a feeling that it meant more to Jess than he would ever admit. And it meant even more to her to know that he cared enough for her to trust her with this ring.  
  
R: ''Thanks, it's beautiful.''  
  
She ran her fingers over the snake and smiled. It was beautiful.  
  
J: ''Now it's on the finger of someone even more beautiful.''  
  
Rory started to blush and lowered her eyes, still running her fingers over the ring. Suddenly she felt Jess' lips on her cheeks. Soft and quick as the wings of a butterfly, but it was a kiss.  
  
J: ''I'm sorry, I shouldn't have.''  
  
R: ''It's okay.''  
  
They looked eyes and smiled at each other, knowing that their paths would be entwined for the rest of their lives. 


	10. The line has been moved

*Disclaimer: I don't own the series Gilmore Girls or the characters. All I own is my imagination and the plot.  
  
*A/N: Hey!!! Yet another fanfic has come to an end. I can't believe that I've finished another one and I can't believe that you guys are still reading! It's a miracle. I want to thank everyone who reviewed. You guys obviously ROCK this earth and universe!!! To you who actually read the A/N's, I'll name a planet after you. And to everyone who will review this chapter too, you guys will get a piece of the moon. Seriously, I would be really grateful if you reviewed this chapter. THANKS!!!  
  
*~*~*:-)*~*~*Bye, smile :-)  
  
Rory put down one of her boxes and sat down on top of it. She looked around Jess' apartment, her boxes scattered all over the place, and smiled. It was their apartment now. That sounded right, their apartment. Rory tried to hide her grin as Jess entered the apartment with the last of her boxes. He put the boxes down and her eyes immediately went to his abdomen. His muscles clearly visible against the thin material of his navy shirt. She let her eyes wander for another second before she brought her gaze up to his face. Suddenly he turned his head and locked eyes with her.  
  
J: ''A penny for your thoughts ?''  
  
Rory started to blush and quickly lowered her eyes. Jess got up, a playful smirk on his face as he watched Rory's cheeks turn from a light pink to a bright red.  
  
J: ''I was kidding you know............''  
  
Rory looked up at him, still not meeting his eyes.  
  
J: ''I would at least pay a dollar.''  
  
Rory started to smile and met his amusing gaze, glad that the tension between them was gone. Suddenly the phone rang and had to tear his eyes away from Rory to pick it up.  
  
J: ''Jess Mariano.................hey Lorelai. Yes, we got here safely...................yeah, hold on.''  
  
Jess removed the phone from his ear and held it out to Rory.  
  
J: ''Your mom.''  
  
Rory rolled her eyes as she took the phone from Jess and brought it up to her ear.  
  
R: ''Hey mom.''  
  
L: ''Hey sweets. How's the apartment ?''  
  
R: ''It's fine.''  
  
L: ''It's fine ?''  
  
R: ''Yeah.''  
  
L: ''I need more. What does it look like ?''  
  
R: ''Well, it has walls, a door, a couple of windows and...........''  
  
L: ''Wait, a couple or a few windows ?''  
  
R: ''Mom.''  
  
L: ''It's important.''  
  
R: ''Why ?''  
  
L: ''Cause the more windows the apartment has the more light falls in the room and everyone knows that I sparkle in the light.''  
  
R: ''You do not sparkle.''  
  
Jess raised his eyebrows at Rory and tried very hard not to laugh. They could talk hours about absolutely nothing.  
  
L: ''Well, maybe not now, but if I put on a dress that's covered with glitter I will.''  
  
R: ''You're hopeless.''  
  
L: ''Hopelessly in love with the sparkly me. Now a couple or a few windows ?''  
  
R: ''A few.''  
  
L: ''Now was that so hard ? O sweets, I have to go, Luke wants to talk to Jess.''  
  
R: ''Okay, bye mom.''  
  
L: ''Peace.''  
  
Rory softly laughed as she handed the phone to Jess.  
  
R: ''Luke wants to talk to you.''  
  
J: ''Hey uncle Luke, miss me already ?''  
  
Luke: ''No, just wanted to make sure that you guys safely made it there.''  
  
J: ''Well, nobody got killed on the way, so...........''  
  
Luke: ''Good.''  
  
J: ''Yeah, good.''  
  
Jess smirked.  
  
Luke: ''Jess...........''  
  
J: ''Yeah ?''  
  
Luke: ''Don't hurt her.''  
  
J: ''I promise I won't kill her.''  
  
Luke: ''Jess.''  
  
J: ''I won't.''  
  
Luke: ''Okay, I'll speak to you soon then.''  
  
J: ''Can't wait.''  
  
Luke: ''Bye.''  
  
J: ''Yeah, bye.''  
  
Jess hung up and shook his head. After all this time Luke was still the same.  
  
R: ''Jess ?''  
  
J: ''Yeah.''  
  
He turned around to face Rory again, who was still sitting on the box.  
  
R: ''Why did you tell Luke that you wouldn't kill me ? You're not going to turn into Jess the Killer or anything, right ?''  
  
J: ''You know Luke, he just wanted to make sure that I wouldn't hurt you.''  
  
R: ''I've already been hurt.''  
  
She lowered her eyes and looked at her hands, regretting her words. She was pathetic. After all this time she still couldn't forget about what Bryan did to her. Sure the thought moved to the back of her mind, instead of in the front of her mind where it had been before, but it was still there.  
  
Jess squatted in front of her and gently forced her to meet his gaze.  
  
J: ''Rory, I would never hurt you. Especially not like that. You know that, right ?''  
  
R: ''I know, I'm sorry.''  
  
J: ''You know, there's a diner around the corner.''  
  
Rory's eyes started to shine and a smile appeared on her face.  
  
R: ''Coffee ?''  
  
J: ''Best coffee in New York.''  
  
Jess got up and helped Rory up. Moments later they closed the door behind them and practically flew down the stairs.  
  
*~*~*  
  
That night Rory couldn't sleep. She had tried everything from counting sheep to reading a magazine about vegetables. It didn't work, the sheep just made her frustrated and the magazine had made her laugh. What was a magazine about vegetables doing in Jess' apartment anyway ? She had to ask him tomorrow. Her eyes went to the silver ring that Jess gave her a day ago. It shone even more in the moonlight than it did underneath the rays of the sun. She ran her fingers over the snake and smiled. She was actually wearing Jess' ring. He still cared for her. Of course he still cared for her, she knew that he always had. And she also knew that he wanted things to be like when they were 17. He wanted more than friendship, but he didn't wanna force her to do anything, so he kept his distance and was happy with just being her friend. He even gave her her own room. Probably to make sure that he wouldn't cross the line. Rory smiled and wondered if Jess was still awake. Before she knew it, she had gotten out of bed and was on her way to Jess' room.  
  
She opened the door and quietly walked over to his bed. He looked even cuter when he was sleeping and to her amusement his hair was messier during the day than when he was sleeping. She watched him sleep until she finally made a decision. Jess wasn't going to hurt her and he wasn't going to force her into doing anything. Besides she wanted to be more than friends again. Rory grabbed a hold of the covers and got into bed with him. She cuddled up against him and couldn't help but blush when she saw that he was only wearing his boxers. Fascinated she watched his chest rise and fall. She reached out her hand and followed the lines of his muscles with her fingers.  
  
Suddenly she could feel his body stir and he slowly opened his eyes to see what had woken him.  
  
J: ''Rory ?''  
  
As soon as he saw that she was in the same bed of him, he was fully awake.  
  
J: ''What are you doing ?''  
  
He shifted his gaze from Rory to her fingers that were resting on his chest.  
  
R: ''I couldn't sleep.''  
  
J: ''So, you decided to wake me ?''  
  
R: ''Besides I wanted to be close with you.''  
  
Jess locked eyes with her and decided to break through the awkwardness.  
  
J: ''How close exactly ?''  
  
He teasingly smirked at her and Rory started to blush.  
  
R: ''It's okay right ?''  
  
J: ''Sure, just don't wake me next time.''  
  
R: ''I promise, next time I won't wake you.''  
  
Rory rested her head on Jess' chest and he put his arm around her. Finally Jess' breathing lulled her to sleep. Jess on the other hand couldn't sleep. He was afraid that as soon as he would close his eyes Rory would disappear too. So, instead he played with her hair and watched her sleep. Some people would have said that the line had been crossed, but both Jess and Rory knew that that wasn't true. The line hadn't been crossed, it had just been moved. 


End file.
